Contents

Biography

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Early days

Ylönen was born and grew up in Helsinki. At a young age he became attracted to music. He learned to play the piano unwillingly when he was five years old. Later, he also learned to play the guitar and drums. When Ylönen was eight years old starting third grade in elementary school, he met Eero Heinonen (the bassist of The Rasmus) and they became close friends during the school year. Ylönen's older sister, Hanna, said that he should try to sing as well. He tried and decided to continue with that.

The Rasmus

When he and Heinonen started at Suutarila high school in the early 1990s, they met Pauli Rantasalmi and later Janne Heiskanen. Ylönen initiated the project of The Rasmus (then called just "Rasmus") in 1994, along with Eero Heinonen (bass) Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar), and Janne Heiskanen (drums). First, they called themselves Trashmosh, then Antilla, and at last Rasmus. They played their very first show before the winter break in school, 1994. They played songs with a style of rock and funk. Ylönen became the lead singer, composer and songwriter of the band. He quit school because the band took too much of his time.

Dynasty

In 1999, an association called Dynasty was founded. The association consists of the three Finnish bands The Rasmus, Killer, and Kwan. The purpose of Dynasty was to signify allegiance and friendship between the bands and their members. Many members have tattoos or wear the Dynasty logotype on guitar straps. The bands have often worked together musically. Lauri has the tattoo on his arm as well as Pauli, Pauli also got the dynasty logo on his guitar (ESP LTD).

Side projects

When he was with Siiri Nordin, the singer of Killer, he sang the group's single, "All I Want".

A year later, he released another song with Apocalyptica, named "Life Burns!". This song was also released as a single and music video. The musical genre was much heavier than "Bittersweet." "Life Burns!" is taken from the same album as "Bittersweet" Ylönen also sang, with other members Kwan and Siiri Nordin of Killer, a song called "Chillin' at the Grotto" at a gala.

Ylönen's most recent project was composing the soundtrack of the Finnish movie "Blackout". The soundtrack was released in December 2008.

Success

After many years of travelling and touring, The Rasmus has become a popular band in Finland, Mexico, Italy and Germany as well as achieving chart success in many other countries. Ylönen is appreciated as one of the best loved contemporary singers from Finland. He is also renowned for sporting a hairstyle of gelled spikes and bird feathers which he wore throughout the Dead Letters and Hide From The Sun eras.

Personal life

Lauri's partner is Paula Vesala, one of the lead singers of the Finnish rock band PMMP, with whom he also has a son Julius Kristian Ylönen (12th April 2008) [1][2]. The couple tends to keep a low profile about their relationship and they aren't often seen together in public.